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At War With The Mystics
by
At War With The Mystics Image
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 156 Ratings

  • Summary: Dave Fridmann returns as producer for the ever-weird, Wayne Coyne-led band's first release in four years.

Top Track

Free Radicals
You think you're so radical I think you oughta stop (Say what) But you're going international They're gonna call the cops (No, no, no) You're... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 37
  3. Negative: 1 out of 37
  1. E! Online
    100
    Tak[es] on the state of global affairs in a way that is both surprisingly direct yet somehow reassuringly weird.
  2. Neumu.net
    90
    What makes At War With the Mystics different is spontaneity -- and not spontaneity in a jazz sense. Listening to this album you get the feeling that absolutely anything could happen -- as if it's taking final form only as it reverberates off your eardrums.
  3. Playlouder
    90
    While Wayne Coyne has been carving out and presenting to the world the manifestations of his crazy mind for an age now, the possibilities have so often been superior to the finished article. That is certainly not the case here.
  4. Observer Music Monthly
    80
    A wonderful record that is flawed - that'll be those flatulent synths again - but by design.
  5. The Boston Phoenix
    75
    At War with the Mystics is as accessibly odd as Yoshimi but more scattered and darker.
  6. AllMusic
    70
    The way that Mystics bounces back and forth between its ethereal and zany moments gives it a disjointed, uneven feel that makes the album a shade less satisfying than either Yoshimi or Soft Bulletin.
  7. Austin Chronicle
    30
    Those farty sounds and the guy with the deeeeeeeeeep voice on "It Overtakes Me" are called "bells and whistles." That's what bands do when they don't have anything to say.

See all 37 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 74 out of 101
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 101
  3. Negative: 8 out of 101
  1. Jcelsius
    Feb 7, 2013
    10
    This album is an overlooked masterpiece. It has the sort of kookiness the Flaming Lips can boast about while mixing in deeper, more melodicThis album is an overlooked masterpiece. It has the sort of kookiness the Flaming Lips can boast about while mixing in deeper, more melodic songs. "Mr. Ambulance driver" is a fantastically emotional song while "W.A.N.D." is an electric anthem of empowerment. The opening track is odd, but completely wonderful. There's a lot of atmosphere on this album and some people might find the lulls unpleasant, but when looked at as a whole and not just a collection of songs it's hard not to reflect on the beauty of it all.… Expand
  2. coy
    Apr 3, 2006
    10
    Best Flamin Lips record, defnitely! Even bether than Soft Bulletin.
  4. mikaell
    Apr 12, 2006
    10
    i think this album is a very good continuation of their previous work. you never know what those guys will do, they'll suprise you i think this album is a very good continuation of their previous work. you never know what those guys will do, they'll suprise you everytime with new fantastic material. i don't understand why this album received so poor reviews - i think it's one of their best albums yet!… Expand
  5. ChrisC
    Apr 5, 2006
    8
    This album has a lot of great tracks on it. But nothing as great as the best from their two previous albums, and it has little or no musical focus.
  6. TomP
    Feb 2, 2008
    8
    Mike, you're an idiot. Radiohead is, I'm sorry, a better band than The Flaming Lips, and their stuff, or anything on this album, is Mike, you're an idiot. Radiohead is, I'm sorry, a better band than The Flaming Lips, and their stuff, or anything on this album, is not taken from Pink Floyd, mabye inspired by them, but have you ever even listened to them, or are you just plain ignorant? Anyways, this is still an entertaining listen, if not as enjoyable as Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots or The Soft Bulletin.… Expand
  7. rvdawesome
    Jan 4, 2014
    6
    This album is good, but doesn't quite reach the high watermark presented the band's previous releases. A lot of the songs just seem likeThis album is good, but doesn't quite reach the high watermark presented the band's previous releases. A lot of the songs just seem like regular, quickly-dashed-off indie pop songs that, had they been more developed, may have been much better. There are so many average songs that have a really good song at the center, but are smothered by the silliness and giddiness of the lyrics and instrumentation. THERE, I SAID IT. THIS ALBUM IS TOO DAMN HAPPY. Apparently the band realized this, as their next release, Embryonic, was amazing as well as bleak and sort of depressing. Then they again went a little too far with the music found on The Terror, but this is not a review of that album (which is a little better than this one). Anyway, this release is a interesting but ultimately disappointing one from a great band who have rectified this mistake with their albums Embryonic and the underrated Heady Fwends.… Expand
  8. JonnyFreshNone
    Apr 29, 2006
    1
    This album is the sound of Pro-Tools coming alive, and being able to catch and eat the Flaming Lips band members because they were tired and This album is the sound of Pro-Tools coming alive, and being able to catch and eat the Flaming Lips band members because they were tired and just sitting in the control room. Lots of effects. No melodies. Poor lyrics. Tired sounding singing. Flat production and engineering on the drums. A flat, dying-goose sound for a guitar on almost every track. Forgotten .wav files in Pro Tools tacked on the end of songs. Four years for this? Are the Lips even a rock band anymore, or a corporation? As Wayne says on one of the worst Flaming Lips songs ever made ( Haven't Got a Clue): " Oh, Come on".… Expand

See all 101 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

24
#24 Most Discussed Album of 2006
78
#78 Most Shared Album of 2006

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